Time and Again
by MrDenim
Summary: [Time Travel] Firestar wakes up... Not that weird, right? But what if he woke up at the prologue of his life in the clans? Skills, memories, and the experience of Thunderclan's greatest leader are forced into the body of a six moons old Rusty, a kittypet of Twolegplace.
1. Chapter 1

**Time and Again**

By: MrDenim

**~~~~~(((0)))~~~~~**

**Chapter 1**

Firestar woke with a start, his eyes wide. An uncomfortable tightness around his throat. A large object rolled down his spine and loop around his tail, causing him to tense his muscles so that he could leap away at a moment's notice. He relaxed slightly when he realized that it felt… familiar somehow…

The flame-colored tom spun in place and gazed at the twoleg paw that was paused in midair. He reached for the object around his neck with a back paw and felt a nostalgic resistance.

_It's… a collar?!_

He ran to the closest reflective surface, in this case it was a glass door, and saw a six month old male cat with bright green eyes and a handsome orange pelt, a baby blue collar with a sun yellow bell around his neck. The cat's now unscarred face had an expression of shock as he took in his ancient appearance.

_How?! How did this happen?! How am I back here?! Is it a trick? Is Starclan messing with me? Did they send me ba-_

Firestar, well, Rusty, was jerked out of his thoughts when the twoleg opened the door wide enough for him to squeeze through and go outside, which he gladly complied to. Not wanting to seem too suspicious, he went over to his old dirtspot until the twoleg left. When they did, Rusty walked over to, and jumped on top of the white picket fence and sat down, gazing out into the forest.

_Are they still there? Watching me? Graystripe, Ravenpaw. Bluestar, Lionheart, Whitestorm. Spot-_ Rusty bowed his head as he remembered the two he had ever loved. _Spottedleaf, Sandstorm._ He gazed forlornly at the forest's dark edge, silently begging to be swept up in the hectic life of the Clans. _Are you there? Any of you?_

"Hey, Rusty, you alright?"

The voice shocked Rusty enough to where he fell off of the fence and out of his garden. He sat up and shook his head to clear the small amount of dizziness that invaded his mindscape. He turned his head to where the voice came from and found Smudge looking at him in concern.

"You looked sad."

_I am._

Rusty mentally shook his head and answered evenly, "I'm fine, Smudge. There's no need to worry."

His black and white friend looked at him oddly.

"You sure you're alright? You're not talking like you normally do."

This time Rusty did shake his head. He sheepishly smiled as he stated, "Yeah I'm fine. Still a little tired I guess."

"A little?!" Smudge looked at him incredulously. "It's past noon, Rusty. How can you _still_ be tired?"

And indeed it was past noon as Rusty looked up into the sky, his eyes squinting against the sun's glare. He turned back to Smudge to find that he had leaped off of the fence and was now sitting in front of him, licking his paw and swiping it over his ear.

"Ya know if you keep looking out at the forest, you'll get as crazy as Joe a few gardens over."

"Ha ha ha." Rusty spoke with obvious sarcasm, "Aren't we all a little crazy on the inside?"

Smudge snorted and rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He stopped grooming and said, "I heard from Henry that there are wild cats out in the forest that eat bones and wear the skins of their kills for warmth during Snowfall."

Rusty grumbled as he asked, "Oh, where did the _almighty_ Henry get this information?"

Smudge looked Rusty in the eyes and with a serious expression said, "He went out there once, remember? He caught a robin there once. He brought it back with him, fur all fluffed up in fright, and-"

"So he was scared and mistook a statement for something else." Rusty interrupted, "Doesn't mean that what he said was true. I explicitly remember there being teeth marks from a dog on that robin, so he lied about that too."

Smudge just looked at him.

"Oh you don't believe me?" Rusty sassed. "Fine then! I'll go out there, tonight, catch something, and prove to you, Henry, and every cat that will listen that there is nothing to be afraid of in that forest!"

He then strolled past Smudge and leapt up and over the fence and landed in his garden, leaving his friend there speechless.

**~~~(((0)))~~~**

Nighttime

**~~~(((0)))~~~**

"You know that you don't have to do this." Smudge pleaded.

"Of course I have to. If only to prove a point." Rusty said with a tone of voice that was used on slow kits, which caused Smudge to glare at the tom.

He didn't notice as he was already walking towards the forest. The sudden and unexpected tone of a bell reminded Rusty of something.

_Oh yeah._

After a few minutes of clawing and chewing, the sun yellow bell broke off of the collar, emitting a dull ring that was cut short when it hit the ground. It left an obvious hole in its place. With a small shake of his body, Rusty continued on, ignoring the feeling of his friend's eyes boring a hole into the back of his skull.

When he reached the boundary of the forest that marked the edge of Thunderclan territory, Rusty slightly opened his mouth and sniffed the air.

_It's that damn mouse again! Finally I can get that stupid rodent!_

Pinpointing the mouse's location, Rusty fell into the hunting crouch and crept forward, paw after paw while making sure not to displace the taller grass stalks that would alert the prey of the predator's location. A scurrying rustled a slightly brown leaf a few taillengths ahead of Rusty. He was certainly glad that he was downwind.

He moved forward a tiny bit more…

…and pounced.

There was a barely audible snap as the mouse's neck was broken from the sudden pressure, not giving it any time to squeak in surprise and alert any other prey in the area. Rusty was halfway down to grab the freshkill in his mouth when an object bowled him over sideways. A hissing and a familiar scent assaulted his senses.

_Graystripe! I mean, Graypaw!_

Rusty was about to share tongues with the tom when he remembered where he was. He sprung into the air and flipped forwards, striking Graypaw in the head with his back claws, making him crash into the ground. Rusty landed calmly on the forest floor in front of him.

"What did you do that for?!" Rusty growled angrily.

Graypaw hopped to his paws and snarled at Rusty. "That was for taking one of Thunderclan's prey! We don't take kindly to outsiders here!"

He ran forward and attacked, not giving Rusty any time to retort as he had to leap into the air to avoid a slash across his face.

The orange tom put all of his weight into his front paws and slammed them into Graypaw's back, eliciting a cry of pain from the messy furred cat. He jumped off of him before Graypaw could do anything and exclaimed, "Had enough?!"

Said apprentice got to his feet, with the smallest of slip ups and said, "Never."

Rusty smirked and muttered, "Good."

Right when Graypaw turned completely around, he felt his front paws get knocked out from under him and claws rake his left cheek, launching him five foxlengths away. He rolled a few times before stopping. He was almost all the way standing when the pressure of a paw against his neck slammed him into the ground, getting grass into his mouth. A malicious whisper pierced his eardrums.

"Now have you had enough, kit?"

A small chuckle from the kittypet that wasn't even older than him sent shivers down his spine. A few minutes of struggling gave him no room. Graypaw sighed and sadly spoke.

"If you're going to kill me, please make it quick and painless."

Rusty felt sad and worried at the amount of fear that was radiating off of his friend, but kept the act up by shifting his center of gravity to his back paws, hoping that Lionheart or Bluestar would intervene.

Which they gladly did.

One force, faster than any cat's eye could perceive, launched Rusty into the air, where another sent him crashing and rolling along the ground for twenty foxlengths, where he skidded to a stop.

He slowly and steadily got to his paws, cringing at the sudden pain that came from his front left paw. He pretended to look shocked and scared at the sight before him, adding a few backward steps for good measure.

There stood Bluestar halfway between him and Graypaw. Lionheart was currently helping his apprentice to his paws.

"Are you alright, Graypaw? Can you walk?" Lionheart asked with evident concern.

The gray furred apprentice slowly got to his paws as he said, "Ye…yeah. I can move. Bluestar," The Thunderclan leader flicked an ear, not once did her eyes waver from Rusty's position. "Be careful with him, I honestly think…" Graypaw paused to catch his breath. "I honestly think that he was just toying with me."

_I was, and I am sorry, my friend…_

…_if I can still call you that…_

"Why?"

Bluestar's question snapped Rusty to attention. He tilted his head as he stated, "He attacked me first. All that I did was react in self defense."

Bluestar narrowed her eyes and said, "Be that as it may, you were still hunting in territory that wasn't yours to hunt in."

"And I was supposed to know this how?" Rusty asked with the tone of a smart-alack. "In case it wasn't obvious enough, I don't come here often."

"I know."

Rusty pretended to be confused and disgusted by that sentence.

Bluestar continued, either not seeing nor acknowledging his expression. All she did was look at the picket fence that marked his garden.

"I've seen you standing on top of your border, night after night, looking out at the forest on itchy paws." She turned her gaze to the young tom. "And now, after moons of just sitting, you finally gave in and set out for the unknown, something that can scare even the most battle hardened warrior."

Rusty gave a fake look of increasing boredom. When she saw it, she stopped rambling.

"You hunted well, for a kittypet at least." Bluestar complimented.

The orange tom honestly looked surprised, not expecting the compliment after what had happened.

"Th-thanks." He stuttered.

The leader gave a tiny nod then said, "You removed that small bell from your restraint, knowing that it would impede your chances of getting a kill. You showed a skill in hunting that most warriors would be envious of. After that, when Graypaw attacked you," She flicked her tail in Graypaw's direction. "You showed the abilities and restraint that impressed even Lionheart here."

The large tom nodded in confirmation.

Bluestar's eyes sparkled with emotion and an idea.

"I have often wondered how you would do, out in the forest."

Lionheart took a step forward and bowed his head.

"Bluestar, with all due respect, this is a kittypet, he shouldn't have even been in our territory. Besides, clan life may be too hard for him."

"Kittypets can't be warriors anyway! They don't have any warrior blood!" Graypaw exclaimed.

Rusty narrowed his eyes and defended himself. "Wanna go for round 2, buddy?"

Graypaw did the unexpected: he flinched in fright and hid behind his mentor. That alone rang alarms through Rusty's head, which was further amplified by the fear scent rolling off of his old friend in droves and the shuddering of his body. Rusty's ears folded back against his head and he slightly bowed his head in sadness, thinking that he had lost his friend forever.

Bluestar watched the exchange silently, taking in the movements and expressions of the two young ones. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw that Rusty genuinely looked apologetic for his actions. She cleared her throat, catching the attention of the three toms.

"Be that as it may, I am willing to offer you a chance to find out just how unknown this forest is." When she saw the shock in the cat's eyes, she continued. "Would you like to join Thunderclan?"

Before Rusty could even open his mouth, Lionheart spoke, "Remember that Bluestar is only offering you training, young one. There is no guarantee that you will finish your training, or that you will even be accepted as a clanmate. However, if you accept her proposal and agree to join us, you must leave your old life behind. If you live with us, you must follow our customs and agree of our Code. You cannot come and go whenever you wish. You cannot have a paw in both worlds."

Rusty thought over what was said.

"Bluestar," Lionheart said. "We must head back to camp in time for the dawn patrol. Tigerclaw must be wondering where we are."

Bluestar nodded and turned around to leave. They were almost to the underbrush when,

"Wait!"

They turned back around to see Rusty on his paws, an odd look in his eyes.

"Can't I think about it first?"

Bluestar and Lionheart spoke softly to each other before she said, "Lionheart will be here tomorrow, when the sun is at its peak. Come then and give him your answer."

Rusty nodded. They nodded back and left. The lone tom stared at their receding forms until they were gone, and stood there looking at where they went out of sight until the moon had reached the western horizon.

**~~~~~(((0)))~~~~~**

**Some notes before you leave: I don't plan on there being too many major changes in the timeline, as the first one - Graypaw being scared of Rusty – was a **_**big**_** one and you will see how much that alone had effected the timeline.**

**Second, whenever I type the fight scenes, they are NOT going to be anatomically correct, as I am best with a mix between anime and fantasy style of fighting, so expect some un-feline attacks in the upcoming fight scenes.**

**Third, pairings are going to be and remain canon. I may not write out any romantic scenes as I suck at them, and I feel as though it'll break the atmosphere around the story with a sudden make out session.**

**Fourth, no lemons. I read lemons, I fap to lemons at times, but I have tried to write them in the past and it flopped terribly, so no lemons in this story.**

**Fifth, brohoof muthaf-ckas!**

**See ya whenev's!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"You going to what!?"

Smudge's eyes were wide as Rusty finished telling him what had happened.

"I said that I'm going to join them."

Smudge shook his furry head in disbelief as he said, "Going into that forest made you insane, Rusty!"

Said tom rolled his eyes and got to his paws, stretched his muscles and reveled in the popping of his limbs, and started walking along the top of the fence towards his garden, Smudge following behind him at a steady pace.

"I mean," Smudge began. "what about your housefolk? What about your friends? What about Princess?"

Rusty turned around so fast Smudge almost bumped into him. The black and white cat took a few steps backwards when he saw the anger, sadness, and a finality so intense he just about fell off the fence.

"I'm going to join them, Smudge." Rusty said with a pleading tone, "I can't explain why, but it's something I have to – no, something I _need_ to do."

The two cats stood there, staring into each other's eyes. After several minutes of silence, Smudge sighed and said,

"Alright. You don't have to be there until sunhigh, so let's just enjoy our final moments together, hm?"

Rusty relaxed and nodded. They spent the rest of the morning playing and talking with their other friends. The morning was perfect, at least until they went to see Princess…

**~~~(((0)))~~~**

"I just hope she won't be too mad."

Smudge rolled his eyes for with millionth time and tried to calm his friend down.

"I'm telling you, Rusty, Princess is your sister. You're family. Nothing you can do or say is going to change that."

The orange tom sighed and muttered thanks. They were just in sight of Princess's home when a cry split the air.

"HELP!"

_That sounded like…_

"Someone, please help me!"

"PRINCESS!" Rusty roared.

He bolted in the direction of the screaming, Smudge right behind him. They soon entered a clearing and saw Princess on the ground with a dark brown tom leaning over her. It was crystal clear on what was going on. Rusty wasted no time and charged over to the pair and launched the tom away from his sister.

Without looking away from his opponent, he said, "Smudge, get Princess away from here."

He didn't bother looking back as he ran at the now standing tom. He slithered underneath him and launched the would-be rapist into the air, clawing at his soft underbelly the entire time. He then bit the cat's tail, twisted in midair, and threw him away, making him hit a tree with a loud smack.

The tom slowly got to his paws, took a single look at the pissed off brother, and tried to bolt.

Tried, being the key term.

Rusty chased after the running coward at an angle, catching him quickly. He knocked the tom's paws out from under him and pressed his unsheathed claws against his target's throat. He growled so menacing even Tigerstar would've flinched in fear. The future leader of Thunderclan leaned in close and whispered in the scared cat's ear.

"I don't care who you are. I don't care what you wanted. I have a particular set of skills. Skills that make me a nightmare for despicable pieces of dirt like you. I want you to remember my face and these words: If you go anywhere near my family or friends again, I will do far more than beat the living shit out of you. I. Will. End. You."

He stood up and stepped off of the tom's throat. After a few seconds of nothing happening, the tom took a single look at Rusty, and was out of sight in less than a second.

When he made sure that the would-be rapist wouldn't come back, Rusty calmly walked towards Princess's home. When he fell into the line of sight of the house, he saw Smudge sitting on top of the iron fence with Princess curled into a ball inside the boundary. He hopped on top of the fence, gave a small nod to Smudge, and leap off into the yard. He walked forward until he was a few pawsteps away from his sister.

"Princess… How are you feeling?"

Without even giving a single moment for him to think, Princess dove into her brother, her muzzle buried into his shoulder. Rusty just sat there, not talking, letting his sister cry herself out of tears, letting it all out.

"I was so scared." She mumbled into his shoulder.

"Shh… He's gone now, I drove him off. He won't be bothering you again."

Princess unlatched herself from his body and gazed desperately into his green orbs.

"But what if he-"

Rusty interrupted. "He won't. If there is an off chance that he does, you come find me in the forest. If you come across any cats that smell like the woods and ferns, especially if one of them is a pure white color that answers to 'Whitestorm', tell them that you need to see me, okay?"

Princess looked confused, but nodded in acceptance. Rusty glanced at the sky and saw that it was getting close to sunhigh. He looked into the eyes of his sister and said,

"I need to go. But I'll see you as soon as I can, okay?"

Princess nodded again. He nodded back. He jumped on top of the fence next to Smudge and asked, "Will you and a few others look after her for a while?"

Smudge gave a firm nod, his eyes sparkling with a determination and loyalty that would make any worthy Thunderclan cat proud. Rusty nodded in return. Without another word, he bounded off of the fence and took off running towards the meeting place.

**~~~(((0)))~~~**

Rusty was only sitting there for a few minutes when he suddenly said, "I would've been here earlier, but I had to deal with small pest problem."

Lionheart stepped through the underbrush and said, "I'm impressed. There are not that many cats that can detect me. What else can you sense?"

The younger tom barely opened his mouth, taking in the surrounding scents. He did this for barely five seconds when he suddenly scented a _very_ familiar scent.

"There's another cat here." Lionheart nodded and motioned for Rusty to continue. "Young…" Rusty gave a small expression of deep thinking. "Not that much older than me, and… female?"

He looked at Lionheart for an elaboration. The older tom nodded and flicked his right ear. A few seconds later, a young she-cat barely a moon older than Rusty with pale ginger fur stepped out from the underbrush and sat down next to Lionheart, her eyes not leaving Rusty's position. The orange tom recognized the look in her eyes and mentally groaned.

_I really _was_ blind wasn't I? Sandpaw had a major crush on me! How in Starclan's name did I not notice!? I wonder what kind of crush it'll be this time around. Shy? Angry? Awkward?_

"Why are we visiting a _kittypet_?" Sandpaw asked, spitting out the word 'kittypet' like a rough piece of freshkill.

_Well that answers that._

"I thought we were going to retrieve a new clanmate."

Lionheart clarified, "We are, and this is the new clanmate."

Sandpaw's eyes widened, a familiar happy gleam in her eyes.

"You are joining, yes?"

Her eyes shifted to a look of slight worry, but went back to happiness when the flame-colored tom nodded.

"Yeah." Rusty confirmed.

A mischievous gleam appeared in Lionheart's eyes. He smiled and said, "Well then, try to keep up!"

He suddenly jumped to his paws and ran off, Sandpaw rushing to catch up. Rusty sat there, confused for a few seconds, when he suddenly face-pawed and bolted after the two clan cats.

He mumbled to himself, "Cannot believe I fell for that!"

Following their scent, Rusty noticed that the path was the exact same one as before. He spotted a familiar dip in the ground and leaped over the deep puddle and continued on, dry as a desert.

After several minutes of constant running, he caught up with the two wild cats, which were jumping up to the top of a pile of stones. When he was at the top with them, he fell to the ground, out of breath, much to the amusement of the two watching him.

_I must've… been running on… adrenalin during the fight with Graypaw. I'm not normally this out of it._

Several seconds of panting later, Rusty caught his breath and stood, shaking his fur.

"We are near our camp." Lionheart stated as he gazed off into the distance. He blinked and turned his head to look at Rusty then asked, "Can you smell the entrance?"

Rusty barely took a whiff before he pointed his tail at a small gap in a collection of ferns. Lionheart turned in that direction for a second, before his smiled and nodded his head. A small flick of his tail was the only signal that he gave as he led the two young cats into the Thunderclan camp.

It still took his breath away when Rusty entered the main clearing for a second time. It was just as he had remembered it. Cats were in groups sharing tongues. The queens were taking care of the mewling kits, most of which were begging to play outside only to be shot down by a rather concerned mother. The elders were either sharing age-old tales of the founding clans or complaining about ticks.

"This is our camp." Lionheart said, snapping Rusty out of his sightseeing. Lionheart motioned with his head towards the nursery, where Goldenflower was currently leaving as Brindleface was entering. "Over there is our nursery, where the kits are raised until it is time for them to become apprentices."

All three of them made their way towards the Highrock at the center of the camp. Some cats, despite being downwind, were already picking up his foreign scent and looking at him in confusion.

Lionheart sat down next to the Highrock and said, "This is Highrock, where Bluestar, our leader, calls for clan meetings."

_Speaking of Bluestar…_ Rusty thought as he picked up her scent.

"He came!" Bluestar purred as she exited the leader's den.

Sandpaw yipped, "Lionheart was convinced he wouldn't."

Bluestar's eyes gleaned with amusement as she asked, "Is that right?" She looked at Lionheart. "How did he fare in the journey?"

"He kept up well. Was out of breath at the end, but he was fine."

Rusty's chest couldn't help but puff up slightly at the compliment.

"So it's agreed?" Bluestar inquired.

Lionheart nodded.

With a small smile at Rusty, Bluestar leapt to the top of Highrock while Lionheart told Sandpaw to alert the apprentices. When she left, Lionheart asked Rusty to sit at the base of the large stone, which he did. Lionheart in acceptance and sat down a ways away from Highrock.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting!" The starry blue she-cat yowled.

In less than ten seconds, the members of the clan that were present, minus the kits and a couple of queens who stayed back at the nursery, had converged near the base of Highrock, a couple of cats that recognized Rusty's scent gazed at him once more in confusion. One of which was Longtail, Rusty realized. He then noticed that he forgot to get his collar off before he entered the camp.

_Damn!_ Rusty mentally screamed. _I can't believe I forgot that!_

"Never before have we had so few apprentices." Her eyes lingered on the three that were present. "With leafbare fast approaching, we will need as many warriors as possible to combat the cold claws of the snow. Lionheart and I have found a young cat from outside the clan-"

She was suddenly cut off as most of the cats in the audience started throwing out an ensemble of questions.

"Where does he come from?"

"What clan does he belong to?"

"That's an odd scent. It isn't the scent of any clan I know!"

A single voice broke out from the rest, much to Rusty's dismay.

"Look at his collar! He's a kittypet! Once a kittypet, always a kittypet. This clan needs wildborn warriors to defend it, not some outsider that'll flee at the first sight of spilled blood."

Rusty, already angered by the young Longtail, snapped, "Care to test that theory of yours?!"

The crowd went dead silent at his words, before Longtail promptly starting laughing so hard he was close to crying, only making Rusty even more mad.

"Y-you?!" Longtail snickered some more. "You couldn't possibly stand a chance at defeating a clan cat in a fight. It's impossible."

Longtail's laughing was cut short by Rusty exclaiming, "Something is only considered impossible until someone goes and does it! How 'bout it then?!"

Rusty got to his paws and stretched his limbs, reveling at their series of pops. Longtail snorted with a self-centered smirk as the surrounding cast formed a ring around the two. Rusty popped his neck for good measure. The two combatants stood there, gauging each other with a critical eye. Then…

…they charged each other.

**~~~~~(((0)))~~~~~**

**And another chapter done! Let me know what you all think. The next chapter is where it starts to **_**really**_** diverge off of the original timeline.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

…they charged each other.

Longtail leapt into the air, spun forward, and tried to use his tail as a lance. Rusty jumped to the side at the last second, felling the pressure from the tail move past him, ruffling his fur.

_He's faster than I remember._

The younger tom clenched his teeth against the tail and spun, sending the young warrior sprawling along the ground. Rusty ran and jumped, claws and fangs ready. There was nothing more than a twitch of a tail, and Longtail was gone.

The orange tom's eyes widened at the unexpected disappearance. Just before he landed on the ground, his opponent's tail came out of nowhere and smashed into Rusty's face, sending him flying. Dust was kicked up as Rusty rolled along the ground; a small gouge in the ground followed him.

He jumped to his feet and rapidly blinked his eyes to get rid of the dust and grime that plagued them. There was a small whistling sound and Rusty instinctively ducked.

He dodged the tail by a mere hair, feeling the wind being whipped up by the extremely fast cat. He turned and hopped into the air at the same time, dodging a charge attack. He brought his forepaws up as he went up, and slammed them onto the top of Longtail's head at the peak of his attack, eliciting a howl of pain of rage from the male tabby.

Longtail violently shook his head side to side as the orange cat landed on his paws. He glared death at his opponent. With a roar of fury, Longtail charge the young cat. When he got into reach, he pistoned his tail back and forth in front of him.

Needless to say, Rusty was surprised, and shocked by what he was barely managing to evade.

_If I slip up for even a heartbeat, I'm finished!_

You ever heard of this little thing called "luck"? Yeah, Rusty doesn't have that.

Rusty's paw slid a mere whisker, catching his attention, causing him to look down for the briefest of moments.

"Now!" Longtail shouted.

Rusty's head jerked up, fear in his eyes, only to be jabbed in the head, shoulder, neck, stomach, anywhere and everywhere was a target for Longtail.

And it hurt. A lot.

His whole body and senses were blinded by the blunt force of Longtail's tail.

"Two!" Longtail roared in triumph.

One, two…

"Four!"

…Three, four…

"Eight!"

"Sixteen!"

"Thirty-two!"

Rusty had almost blacked out from the pain, only knowing that he couldn't fail kept him awake.

"Sixty-four!"

With a final jab with his tail, Longtail spun and slashed Rusty across the chin with his back left claws, launching the poor kittypet and sending him crashing onto the Highrock. He fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Longtail had a large, sinister grin on his face as he made his way towards the tom, confident in his victory. But, his eyes widened in shock when he saw Rusty struggling to stand, his front right leg limp, breathing heavily.

_My leg's numb from the pain._ Rusty flinched as his heartbeat sent painful shockwaves to his brain. _Damn, I have to finish this somehow, and quick._ He glanced warily at the confident warrior. _What did I do that made him this powerful, and who else had changed?_

Longtail snickered evilly and yelled, "Why won't you give up! It's pointless to continue."

Rusty breathed heavily as he said, "Because… because I know that I'm meant to be here… Like-" Rusty stopped to cough a few times, letting more air into his lungs. "Like it's, my destiny, and I won't stop, I _will not_ give up or give in if that means I fail to achieve it."

The entire clan was silent as they listened to the young tom's speech.

"Night after night I sat at the edge of my border, wondering what else was out there," Rusty flicked his eyes towards the cats that had became his closest friends and clanmates. "and now that I was offered the chance to find out, I took it." He stared into Longtail's eyes with understanding and respect nearly pouring out of them. "I don't plan on dying here, not after I've come so far, so close to achieving that goal of finding out. You may break my body and you may kill me here." Rusty shook his head sadly. "But… at least I'll know that I tried."

Even Bluestar was struck silent by the kittypet's speech. Longtail just chuckled, and disappeared again.

Rusty felt a sudden weight against his spine, smashing him against the sandy ground. He felt a warm breath tickle his ear and a dark chuckle escape from Longtail's muzzle.

"Such cute words, coming from a kittypet."

Longtail then grabbed Rusty's collar and started yanking tight, squeezing the air out of Rusty's lungs. This continued for several seconds, without a snap.

_Why isn't it snapping?! What did I do the first time?...Oh yeah!_

Rusty started squirming out from underneath Longtail, eliciting a meow of surprise to escape his muzzle. The young tom thrashed about like a fish out of water, hoping against hope that the collar would-

_Snap!_

"Yes!" Rusty gasped out as the collar broke free.

He took large gulps of air that stung his reddened throat from the constant pressure that had assaulted it. Longtail spat the collar to the ground and attempted to charge again, but was shocked to find his target suddenly in front of him, fangs bared. The orange tom leaped forward and latched onto the same ear as before.

The older tabby thrashed his head around, trying to ragdoll the cat off of him. It worked. The orange noticed the nick in Longtail's ear as he fell to the ground in a heap, his sides screaming for a break from the action.

Lucky for them, Bluestar heard them. She yowled loud enough to snap the two fighting toms to an intermission.

"Enough!" She jogged forward, picked up the now broken collar and placed it at Rusty's paws. "Starclan has made their choice by the breaking of the collar." She turned and gazed at the kittypet. "They have agreed to let you join Thunderclan. Rusty, step forward."

He walked forward until he was right in front of the proud leader. The clan cats gathered behind him as Spottedleaf took a grumbling Longtail to the Medicine Den. Bluestar gazed at Rusty, her eyes boring into his. Her eyes widened slightly when a patch of sunlight hit Rusty's fur, making him look like a brand of fire.

"You look like a mark of fire in the sunlight." She blinked approvingly. "You fought well." She cleared her throat to speak louder. "From this day forward, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice shall be known as Firepaw, in honor of his flame-colored coat."

_Firepaw!_ Firepaw thought as the cats broke off into smaller groups to gossip. _Things are starting to look up!_

His face fell when he realized what he had just said. He sighed and muttered,

"…Dammit."

**~~~~~(((0)))~~~~~**

**VERY short but I just had trouble with this chapter for an unknown reason. Anyway, I have a little competition for you guys:**

**There are TWO planned cats that have been sent back in time with Firestar, you guys have to guess who those two cats are. Here's the hint: it isn't any of the apprentices. Have fun!**

**On the note a certain scene in the previous chapter, no, Firestar DID NOT prevent Cloudtail's birth. Female cats are only pregnant for 3-3.5 months, and Cloudtail wasn't born until _Fire and Ice_.**


End file.
